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Josh took a breath as he felt his body settle on the ground of the next Earth. This was the 163rd time he’d flicked the switch on the wormhole device - the 162nd time he’d done it on purpose. It was taking a toll, no matter how much he tried to convince himself that he liked this game. What was the point of a game with no end in sight? Sure, he played Monopoly, but that doesn’t mean that he actually played it “correctly”. House rules existed for a reason.
He blinked and adjusted to the bright sunlight bursting through the canopy of the trees surrounding him. Not far from where he lay, the woods gave way to a clearing with a few small cottages reminiscent of those he’d seen at Ren Faires. Hm. Not his Earth, but he could work with this. Maybe it was time to actually enjoy the experience of being in a completely different time. Josh hoped that time spent in the wormhole dimensions wasn’t disproportionate to time back home. He shook his head, letting a smile break through as he noted that his main point of reference was D&D. If this was like the Faewild, his friends could be running around for years without him. How long would it take for them to give up and forget him? Fucking ouch . Maybe don’t think about that, actually.
The first two cottages he snuck into had nobody home, but the various animal skins and spare bows suggested that they were out hunting. Josh fought back the urge to try out a bow, recalling the time he tried to use a real one on Earth 48 - it was the start to a very bad day. Instead, he swapped his clothes for a long green tunic and belt, hoping the jeans didn’t look too out of place underneath.
He’d been sneaking around, so when he gently shut the door, turned around, and found a dagger to his throat, he inhaled sharply.
“What,” whispered a voice, “are you doing in this part of the world, my dear prince?”
Prince? , Josh thought. May as well play along.
“My lady, if you would care to remove this wretched dagger from my neck then maybe I would share that with you.” He awaited his response, but was met with silence. “Why do you act in such a way, peasant?” That felt mean but if he was a prince, surely he deserved to be treated better.
“I’m sorry, what did you just call me?” She retorted. “You would do well to address the Queen of the Bandits as such.”
Josh carefully turned to look at his aggressor. The blade held steady - she must’ve wanted him to speak before she drew blood.
Oh shit .
Rachel stared back at him coldly. Her calmness was discerning, but not just because his Rachel was so rarely like this. An enemy? , Josh’s mind supplied. His heart disagreed. It wasn’t like he needed to be here, all it would take is one swift movement to activate the device and he would be gone, presumably leaving the Bandit Queen’s world with a new cryptid. But that would be running away.
Josh’s spiralling was stalled when he noticed her outfit - a dress that began just below her shoulders, billowing out into reds and blacks below her corset. An interesting choice for a bandit, but perhaps he caught her as she was on her way to a ball. Well, rather, she caught him. The point is that she was as beautiful as his Rachel.
Her icy stare pierced through his heart as his longing for home grew stronger.
She raised an eyebrow (presumably at his slowly colouring cheeks) and withdrew her knife. So she trusted him not to kill her, or to run away. That was something.
“I dare say that my mother will be pleased,” she sighed, her expression warming by a few degrees as she sheathed her weapon. “I presume that you are aware of the bounty on your head?”
“Bounty?”
“So you are clueless as they say.”
“Well-”
“No, it’s fine. You can admit it to me.” She smirked. “And besides, the entire kingdom presumes that you have fled.”
Josh raised an eyebrow, trying to put together the pieces. Puzzles were a lot harder when it was your own life and there was no picture to help.
Rachel put her hands on her hips. “Do you take me for a fool, prince?”
“What’s your evidence that I have fled?” he challenged.
“Well, you’re not in your castle, you’re dressed in hunter’s garb, and you haven’t got guards with you. Would you like more?”
This confidence suits her , his mind offered. Not the time for that , he retorted.
“I’d need a reason to run away… have you got that figured out too?” If Josh could get her to tell him what was going on, he had a better chance of figuring out how much danger he was in, and where the others are. If only Katrina was here-
“You’re due to marry Katrina of the Viande Kingdom. You don’t want to. You ran away. Simple.”
Josh felt his jaw drop. “I’m… to Katrina…?”
“You really got the looks and not the brains, huh?” Rachel looked up at him with that damned smirk again. It was almost as if she was meaning to goad him.
“I- How dare you?”
She stepped into his space. “I’m the Bandit Queen, that’s how dare I.”
With one hand lightly pressing down on his shoulder, and the other holding the dagger again ( how did she get it out without him noticing? ) Josh felt himself drop to his knees. Rachel may have been small in stature, but she was confident and apparently, he was weak to that in every universe.
He mustered up some courage. “What’s your plan for me then? You mentioned your mother?”
“I’m not just going to divulge the secrets of the trade to you, sire. But I’ve already said there’s a bounty on your head. My mother - who I work for - would take my head off my shoulders if I let you go.” She paused, searching Josh’s eyes for clues. With a smile, she seemed to find her answer. “I, too, would like to run away.”
“Well, I do not wish to marry Katrina.”
“And if you disappear for long enough, it’ll fall to your sister Janice, true?”
Very progressive- ah, Janice was his sister on this Earth. They’d been siblings in a couple of iterations so far, but Josh tried to make a mental note to write it down later.
He nodded. “Indeed. How do you say-“
“We run away together? Leave royalty and responsibilities behind?”
Rachel had a glint in her eye now, a youthfulness that was crying out to be set free. She’d been dragged down by the weight of the world, tied down by the strings her mother had bound her with, and Josh wanted more than anything to take her hand and run into the distance.
But he’d have to leave soon. He couldn’t be there for her.
Dipping out of other dimensions had been easier. His friends often hadn’t noticed him - or he’d made the decision not to get too close.
“I can’t promise I’ll be here in the morning,” Josh spoke carefully, measuring his words. “But you should escape what’s trapping you. I must escape too, but further knowledge of my whereabouts is dangerous. To both myself and you.”
Nodding her head, Rachel put her knife away. So she’s not that mad at me, good.
Josh met her eyes and continued. “You have given me great perspective on this world. Bandit Queen, I do believe that you are worthy of more than this life has bestowed upon you. I implore you to free yourself. Take that how you wish: as an order from a prince, or a wish from a rogue.”
Rachel knelt down at Josh’s side and untied his wrists. He shook them out, running his fingers along the marks that the rope had left. When he looked up from his wrists, Rachel was inches from his face, her once-icy eyes now like flames. Josh felt his face burning up as she settled her gaze on his lips.
In the near-empty clearing of the woods, Josh leaned forwards and kissed Rachel.
He couldn’t be by her side forever, not in this world. He couldn’t watch her grow into the woman he knew she could be. But he saw the spark, and could only hope she wouldn’t mind when he fanned the flame.